The 2013 APCO International Conference & Expo has drawn to a close, which means we have a new president to lead the association into the coming year.

Gigi Smith was sworn into office at the 2013 President’s Dinner in Anaheim, Calif., on the final night of the expo. Smith, who is Police Operations Manager at Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center in Utah, shared an anecdote about her family’s love of snow skiing with her opening remarks — a time when her son was holding on to the rope on the bunny slope for dear life, and ended up taking the ride of his life. Smith compared this experience to her past year as APCO’s First Vice President.

“This past year has been fun! It’s been awesome and it’s been one of the best rides of my life,” Smith said. “This past year has been all uphill and it’s prepared me to be your President this coming year.”

Smith outlined several of her personal goals for her tenure as president, among them connecting with APCO members, building relationships and continuing to grow valued partnerships for the organization.

“We’ll continue to be as unified as we’ve ever been, and we’ll continue to be successful, our job being to continue to work our way to the top,” Smith said. “We’ll have that euphoric feeling of accomplishment and pride.”

Smith closed by acknowledging the long hours and hard work put in by the executive committee, and thanked outgoing president Terry Hall for his service and leadership. She also welcomed Second Vice President Brent Lee to the committee.

At last year’s conference, Hall’s message to APCO members was to “Hold on.” This year, Smith reiterated his message by saying, “Hold on tighter!” We’re looking forward to a year of growth and progress under Smith’s leadership.